Jordanian, Egyptian envoys not arriving as Arab League

July 12, 2007 9:00am

A visit to Israel by the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers will not be on the Arab League’s behalf, the Egyptian foreign minister said. The ministers are due to arrive in Israel on July 25 to advance negotiations over a comprehensive peace deal that would produce a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in exchange for peace with every Arab country. The deal was originally proposed in 2002 by Saudi Arabia and the Arab League and was resurrected this year. Jordan and Egypt already have peace treaties with Israel, but the arrival of their foreign ministers under the Arab League aegis later this month would have set a historic precedent. However, on Thursday Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Egyptian foreign minister, said “this is not a visit where the Arab League flag will be raised,” echoing remarks made a day earlier by Amr Moussa, the chairman of the Arab League.